Stewart + Brown’s Cub Reporter

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Karen, Huxley and Hazel make chalk drawings

Hazel Stewart Brown was born in 2002, the same year that her parents, Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, founded their pioneering eco-fashion label. Stewart + Brown, which they pronounce “Stewart Brown,” rather than “Stewart and Brown,” was named not after themselves but for Hazel—and six years later, for her brother, Huxley, as well. Here, the budding eco-fashionista hones her journalism skills by interviewing Stewart + Brown’s co-founder and design director, whom she happens to know by another name: Mom.
Photos by Torrey Jay.

Hazel interviews Karen

Hazel: When is your birthday?
Karen: September 25. When’s your birthday, Hazel?”
Hazel: December 27! How old are you? Oh! I know this one…aren’t you 40 years old?
Karen: Yes, I am.
Hazel: What is you favorite color?
Karen: My favorite color is green because it’s your favorite color.
Hazel: Yup, green is my favorite. What is your favorite band or type of music?”
Karen: Well, I’m not quite sure what to call the genre of music. I guess it would be considered indie-folk—bands like Iron and Wine and Bon Iver. What’s your favorite band, Hazel?”
Hazel: Joni Mitchell and…Neil Young! And I really like that song “Hey There Delilah”…I know all of the words, do you want me to sing it for you?”

Huxley peaks in as Karen does Hazel’s Halloween make-up

Karen: Yes! But how about we finish these questions up?
Hazel: Okay. Have you ever kissed a boy other than Daddy?
Karen: Hazel!
Hazel: (Laughing hysterically) Daddy told me to ask you!
Karen: Have you?
Hazel: Noooo…just Daddy and Huxley. What is your favorite food then?
Karen: Sushi!
Hazel: That’s my favorite, too!
Hazel: What is your day like?

Karen and hazel wearing their costume fangs

Karen: Well, I wake up at about 6 a.m. and I usually go to bed around midnight.
Hazel: That’s early! Why?
Karen: I’m pretty busy and have a lot of work to get done during the day.
Hazel: What’s your favorite thing to do with your friends?
Karen: I like to meet my friends at their homes and bring my kids to play with their kids, and I like drinking wine with my girlfriends. Hazel, who are all the people in your family?”
Hazel: Me, you, Huxley, and Daddy! I used to have a Bernese Mountain Dog named Bridger but she died last month. She was old. I still miss her a lot but she’s in heaven now. Mommy, what is your favorite thing to do with your family?

Karen and Hazel set the table

Karen: Oh I know! My favorite thing to do with my family is to go to Swan Lake in Montana, hike in the mountains, paint pictures, draw and play with my family at the beach…at sunset, with a bonfire.
Hazel: (Mimes lying on the couch watching TV) This is my favorite thing to do.
Karen: Just chill out at the couch, that’s your favorite? (Laughs) Are you an artist like me, Hazel?
Hazel: Yes! I like to draw clothes like Mommy!
Karen: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made?
Hazel: Hold on a minute…(Leaves and returns with a paper mask) I like a lot of them, but the mask was fun to make.
Karen: I really like what you did with the eyes on the mask. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Hazel gives Howard a card

Hazel: I can’t make that decision…
Karen: Oh c’mon…is there anything you’re leaning towards as of now?
Hazel: Well, I really want to be a teacher, and I really want to be an artist, and I want to run the store.
Karen: You want to run the store, too? Mommy and Daddy’s store? Good we need someone like you. What things are most important to you?
Hazel: My parents and Huxley and my cashmere blanket!
Karen: What are your favorite things to wear?”
Hazel: Umm…Mom and Dad’s clothes.
Karen: What do your parents do for a living?
Hazel: Mommy makes clothes and Daddy makes them look pretty and sells them.

Hazel’s playhouse

Karen: Do you ever help us out at Stewart + Brown?
Hazel: Yes! I color at my Mom’s desk, draw stuff for T-shirts, and I’ve helped Mommy design a dress.
Karen: Don’t forget that Stewart + Brown was named after you and your brother!
Hazel: Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. And once, I painted a picture that an elephant copied onto fabric that Mommy made into a dress.
Karen: That’s right, and all the money we raised went to circus elephants that are retired. That dress turned out great, too!

Hazel on the tree swing

Hazel: What is your favorite part of Stewart + Brown?”
Karen: What’s my favorite part? Well, I really enjoy designing clothes, especially sweaters and knits.
Karen: Hazel, What does being “green” mean to you?
Hazel: I plant stuff—sometimes I throw my food into the soil so it can feed the plants and I always recycle and I never litter…litter bugs are bad!
Karen: That’s right, what else do you do around the house that helps us save energy?

Hazel and Huxley being goofy

Hazel: Oh, I turn off the lights and water and keep the doors closed, too! I put on a sweater when it gets cold so we don’t have to turn on the heat. I like sweaters and my favorite one is pink.
Karen: Who is your favorite fashion designer?
Hazel: Mommy is my favorite designer…oh, and I like some of the designers on Project Runway, but some of them I don’t like. Mommy, who is your favorite designer?
Karen: My favorite designer is a Mommy, too. Mother Nature!
Hazel: Yeah, Mother Nature is cool. She’s uses pretty colors.

Karen and Hazel do laundry

Thanks for the insight Hazel!